The Library's 4,900
newspaper titles are preserved on nearly 73,000 microfilm reels. As the
mandated newspaper repository in Illinois, the Library holds titles from
all 102 counties. Many of the newspapers date from the early and
mid-nineteenth century, and more than 300 newspapers are currently
received through subscription.

The Library's
newspaper collection has been cataloged through the nationwide program
funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Researchers may
borrow newspapers on microfilm through interlibrary loan.
Researchers may also view the newspapers held by the library by city at:
http://www.illinoishistory.gov/lib/newspaper.htm
and entering the city.

Access to
Records and Fees:

You
can visit the library or the library will accept requests by mail. All
search requests must include specific information for a search to be
performed. Those specifics include the full name(s), exact date (day,
month, and year), and exact location (city and county) of the
occurrence. If such information is unavailable and you live in the
continental United States, you may borrow newspaper microfilm on
interlibrary loan through your local library to do your own research.
Each search consists of looking for articles on one occurrence (obituary
notice, birth announcement, marriage announcement, etc.) for one person.

Each
letter must be accompanied by a self addressed, stamped, business sized
envelope. Checks and money orders should be made payable to the Abraham
Lincoln Presidential Library. A response will be sent for successful and
unsuccessful searches. Do not send a second letter until you have
received a response to your first.

Illinois
Residents: There is no fee for Illinois
residents but send your request should a self-addressed legal-sized
stamped envelope. You will be billed for photocopying at 25 cents per
page.

Non
Illinois Residents: A non refundable fee of
$10.00 per search must accompany each search request.

Make check or money order to Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Mail
requests to:

$1 per record by check payable
to Board of Election Commissioners. Send name and year
desired, and include whatever other information you have including
address, name of spouse, and where born. They cannot do research for two
months prior to any election and for one month following an election.

2. Enter the address of property and get image of property as currently
recorded by assessor.

3. Click on view
image, then right click to copy or save image.

B. To find properties (& addresses)
in Cook County (including Chicago)
owned by an individual.
Only property transactions after
1 January 1985
available online.

1. Click on link above (find
properties...)

2. Click on grantor/grantee search

3.
Enter the individual's name (you can
search by surname only also), hit search

4. Click
on a specific property

5. Click
on property description

6. To
get the address, write down 14 digit property description (PIN)

7.
Return to this webpage and click
on link above (find image/address of property)

8. Enter
PIN where it says search by Property Index Number.

9. The
property address will appear. You can also view image of property.

C. To find information (records) about a property prior to 1 January
1985, you need to go to the office.

1.
Having the street address is not sufficient to start your search. Take
the
street address or Property Index Number (PIN) to the map
department,
Room 434 (4th floor). The charge is $5 per description. The legal
description
is composed of the area-sub area-block-parcel.

2. Go to
Recorder of Deeds office in Room 12o (1st floor). You will be directed
down the stairs to the Tract Department. They will find the Tract
book
for this property. Each property will have a history of
transactions.

3. You can
request a copy of the pages of the Tract book (25 cents per page)
by going back to the stairs and going to the legal department and
providing
the Tract book number and page(s) to copy.

4. Go
back downstairs and give paid request to clerk and they will make
copies.

5. If
you would like copies of the details of any transactions, the cost is
$10.

Contains records
dating back to 1872.Birth records
(over 75 years old), marriage records (over 50 years old), death
records (over 20 years old) for
Cook County are available for genealogical purposes.These are not certified copies. Marriage
and more recent birth and death records can be provided
if you are next of kin or have a financial interest.

The Bureau of Vital Statistics has
announced that an online index to birth, marriage and death records are
available online as of 3 July 2008. You
will be able to search the index and possibly be able to view some
records online. Records are being added as part of an ongoing process. You
are able to order the original document through the website. There is an
additional fee of $1.75 for credit card orders.

Access to Records and Fees:

Mail
requests to above mailing address and enclose:

1.
Genealogical Request Form (obtain from website)
2. Check or money order payable to the Cook County Clerk (see below for
fee)
3. A self-addressed stamped envelope

You
can also go directly to one of the local office's to obtain records.
Please call to check hours and to see if you wait for the records.

This database includes newspaper titles that have been inventoried and
cataloged. This database is meant to be used as a reference point from
which newspaper titles and holdings information can be located.

Access to Records and
Fees:The Illinois Regional Archives
Depository
System
welcomes mail and telephone inquiries in addition to in-person visits.Please have the following information:

1.full name of the person you are researching

2.approximate year this person is expected to appear in the record

3.name of the county (Cook)

4.record title or type to search

Please limit inquiries to two names at a
time and wait until you have received a response to your first request before
submitting additional ones.A copy
of the record will be sent to you in 4-10 weeks.There is no charge for the research services but copies are
twenty cents apiece, with a minimum of one dollar.

Copies of the inquest records found in this index may
be obtained by mail or telephone. Inquiries should be made directly to
the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Northeastern
Illinois University in Chicago. IRAD cannot accept request by e-mail at
this time. Call or write.

Copies of the homicide records found in this index may
be obtained by mail or telephone. Inquiries should be made directly to
the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Northeastern
Illinois University in Chicago. IRAD cannot accept request by e-mail at
this time. Call or write

Call in advance to reserve microfilm reader.
Records can be ordered via downloadable forms or via their website. Search of
the Naturalization index can be requested by e-mail. Put
"Naturalization Record Search" into subject. Include name of
individual whose record you are searching and where the person was
living (midwest states only) and whatever information you may have
including approximate date of naturalization, birth date/year, country
of origin and approximate date of entry into the U.S. Provide your full name, address, e-mail,
and phone. Should get results within 10 days. The detailed files can
then be ordered for $10 (for up to 4 files) from the National Archive.
Some of the earlier registrations are only available from Office
of the Circuit Court Clerk of Cook County which they will indicate
on the response.

An index to
obituaries which appeared in Skokie papers from 1963 to the
present. Issues from which obituaries are indexed include The
News (1963 through 1981), Skokie Review (1981 to the present),
and Life: Skokie edition (1981 to the present).

2. Books:

Cutler,
Irving. The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb. (University
of Illnois Press, 1996)